Wildlife You Can Spot in Just 7 Days around St. Lucia

Short on time but still want to experience wildlife in South Africa without spending a fortune on luxury lodges?

This guide is based on what we actually saw during one week around St. Lucia, using a mix of self-drive safaris and one or two tours. No fancy lodges, just a rental car, a bit of planning, and a lot of time spent scanning bushes and roads.

As a marine biologist (who clearly can’t stay away from animals on land either), I wanted to know what was realistically possible in a short time frame, and honestly, the results were better than expected.

Want to read more on how we planned our trip? Take a look here!

Target Species: The Big 5

Of course, we came in with the list, the Big 5:

Lion
Leopard
Elephant
Rhino
Buffalo

And somehow… we actually saw all of them. Not in luxury conditions, not with trackers and radios (okay, except one tour), but mostly by just being in the right place at the right time, and a bit of luck.

If you’re spending around a week in the St. Lucia area, combining Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park and iSimangaliso Wetland Park, here’s what you can realistically expect, based on what we saw ourselves.

Mammals

Cape lions (Panthera leo melanochaita): We spotted lions twice in Hluhluwe, with them walking right past our vehicle.

African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus): This one felt almost impossible, until it wasn’t. While driving at night near St. Lucia (originally looking for snakes, obviously), I noticed movement in the bushes. And there she was. A juvenile female leopard, completely relaxed, sitting just a few meters away, licking, yawning, and ignoring us entirely. We stayed there alone with her for about 10 minutes. The next day? Same leopard. I named her FluffySpots.

African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana): We saw elephants multiple times, both in Hluhluwe and in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, including close encounters at watering holes and… a slightly more intense 7-hour roadblock situation (long story, but yes, elephants will absolutely decide your schedule for you).

Southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum): Hluhluwe is famous for rhino conservation, so sightings here are very likely. But somehow, we also saw three rhinos (including a baby) in iSimangaliso, which is wild considering there are only a handful in that park.

Southern African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus): Another amazing encounter in Hluhluwe. We were definitely very lucky, as cheetahs aren't spotted that much.

Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer): Often overlooked, but we saw several, including three bulls right at the entrance of Hluhluwe on our first morning, a solid way to start. They are quite common and often stay in large groups, so you'll see a lot of them.

Plains Zebra (Equus Quagga)

Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa)

Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius)

Nyala (Tragelaphus angasii)
Common Impala (Aepyceros melampus melampus)
Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)

Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Diademed monkey (Cercopithecus mitis): We saw them in the iSimangaliso park
Chacma baboon (Papio ursinus): Common in Hluhluwe